Small prey for small cats: the importance of prey-size in the diet of southern tiger cat Leopardus guttulus in a competitor-free environment

ABSTRACT

Small cats can have a direct influence on the organization of small Neotropical vertebrate communities. However, the magnitude of influence and role(s) played by small felids, including Leopardus guttulus, in regulating prey populations is not well understood. This study aims to determine if there is a key-taxon in the dietary composition of the southern tiger (S-tiger) cat and evaluate the relationship between prey availability and use in the restinga habitat of Southern Brazil. Oligoryzomys spp. were identified as one of the main prey items and found to be among the highest density mammal species in the restinga habitat. However, as Oligoryzomys spp. were not among the preferred prey species in the S-tiger cat’s diet, the high frequency of predation is probably a consequence of their high abundance. The diet of the S-tiger cat is characteristic of a generalist predator, eating a high diversity of different prey species, consumed per their availability, and selected according to mass and accessibility. However, in this area devoid of other felid competitors and with abundant prey, S-tiger cat seems to consume prey species within a relatively narrow mass spectrum (6–25 g), although it does not appear to select any specific taxon of any class size.

KEYWORDS:

• Atlantic forest
• diet
• electivity
• Oligoryzomys
• Serra do Tabuleiro State Park

Acknowledgments

We thank Renê C. da Silva, Carlos J. de Carvalho Pinto, Jorge J. Cherem, Lauro C. Narciso, Hugo B. Mozerle, Javier Pereira, Luiz F. Pimenta and Jason Mobley for their contributions to this study. We thank Lamaq/UFSC, Instituto Pró-Carnívoros and CAPES (Brazil) for the scholarship to M.A. Tortato.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Brazil’s National Environmental Fund (FNMA) under Grant 001/04 with additional support from Santa Catarina Environmental Institute (IMA) and CAIPORA Cooperativa.